Yes Kev.. The user directory was the prob. I just made my own and mounted is under my working directory. What can I do to make this process easier for developers to get set up running their server locally so they can see changes in their code tested, without redploying a server?

Should I Add a parameter to the Server for which directory to use as a base? that makes it easier to confiigure the server.

Just found this thread. I must say, this looks awesome. Reminds me of an ancient game called "Times of Lore", which I loved to play a gazillion years ago.

As for npc's, monsters, items and likewise, it seems you would be very well off with the typical LPMud-based approach. Start with a basic "GameObject" class, which has basic properties (name, weight, etc), subclass it to "Living", and "Item", and subclass further to "Weapon/Armour", "Player/Animal/Monster".Beginning at "GameObject" you can introduce a set of object-specific properties, with identifiers defined globally in an interface. This is really handy, you can introduce new properties as you go along, and it gives the entire object hierarchy a very seamless feel to it.

// for instance, when someone get poisoned,myObject.add_prop(LIVING_O_POISON,poisonObject);// when someone starts casting a spell (assuming spells// have casting timemyObject.add_prop(LIVING_B_CASTING_SPELL,true);// and when casting is finished myObject.remove_prop(LIVING_B_CASTING);

Well, I am sure you get the idea. It is only a suggestion of course, but from past experience (I've been developing and administrating LPMud's since the mid 1990's), this is a system that works nicely. It's not the fastest car in the park, but it makes it worthwhile in understandability, and easy maintainance (which is important for such a big-world type of game).